OFFICERS AND THE MESS

Delhi: A cantonment that houses two starkly different worlds that are still learning to coexist

- SANJIB KR BARUAH

Lt Gen (retd) Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar first saw the Delhi cantonment in 1979. A hero of the Indian Army’s 2016 surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Nimbhorkar had three stints as a cantonment resident.

He has fond memories. “Till the 1980s, the cantonment was a far-off place from Delhi. It was isolated, and life was peaceful,” he says.

The downside, according to Nimbhorkar, was the lack of proper transport facilities. “Public transport was inconvenient and unreliable. There were few taxis from the railway station to the cantonment. Yet, I would very much like to go back to that life.”